The Australian Grand Prix returns to its curtain-raising slot in the 2025 Formula 1 calendar. It’s the first time Melbourne has opened the season since 2019.
Daniel Ricciardo won’t be on the grid this year, and he’s unlikely to attend at all. Ricciardo considers himself retired from F1 after losing his Racing Bulls seat with a quarter of the season remaining.
New Zealander Liam Lawson replaced Ricciardo before graduating to Red Bull. This is as close as he’ll get to a home race.
But the home hopes rest for the most part with Oscar Piastri. Ted Kravitz expects to see Piastri on the podium at Albert Park as part of a McLaren one-two.
The Woking outfit clearly looked like the fastest team over a race distance in pre-season testing. That gives Piastri a real shot at becoming the first homegrown Australian Grand Prix winner.
This year, he’s joined on the grid by Jack Doohan. Ralf Schumacher fears Doohan could lose his seat after Melbourne amid intense pressure from reserve driver Franco Colapinto.
Sponsor commitments tarnished Australian Grand Prix for Daniel Ricciardo
Ricciardo finished on the podium 32 times during his F1 career, but never did so at his home race – officially at least. He crossed the line second on his Red Bull debut in 2014, only to be disqualified for a fuel breach.
After that, he twice finished an agonising fourth. With three DNFs to his name, he must have wondered if he was cursed at times.
On his final visit in 2024, he suffered a Q1 exit, and while he recovered to 12th, the lack of points was still a disappointment. Quoted in Phillip Horton’s book ‘The Grand Prix’ year, Ricciardo explained why he ‘didn’t enjoy’ his home race for a period of his career.
The endless sponsorship commitments and the intense spotlight proved to be a distraction. Perhaps he could have achieved better results without them.
| YEAR | TEAM | POS |
| 2012 | Toro Rosso | 9th |
| 2013 | Toro Rosso | DNF |
| 2014 | Red Bull | DSQ |
| 2015 | Red Bull | 6th |
| 2016 | Red Bull | 4th |
| 2017 | Red Bull | DNF |
| 2018 | Red Bull | 4th |
| 2019 | Renault | DNF |
| 2022 | McLaren | 6th |
| 2024 | RB | 12th |
“From the outside, everyone’s like ‘well Daniel, you know you’ve got the podium, so you can win it now and all this’,” he said. “And we always unfortunately seemed to start the season quite slow and never be a podium car.
“And then as the sport grew and as I guess my place in the sport probably grew, the more attention was on and the more you get pulled left, right and centre, more sponsors and more this and that. There was definitely a period where I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to.
“That was unfortunate because home is a special place, but I think it took a little bit of going through the s— to then figure out how to manage a home race.”
Oscar Piastri has warned Jack Doohan ahead of the Australian GP
Karun Chandhok says a Piastri victory would be ‘amazing’ given the struggles of some legendary Australian drivers on home soil. He could finally end the hoodoo.
Even Mark Webber, who partnered Sebastian Vettel during the 2010-13 Red Bull dynasty, never managed to crack the top three. The 48-year-old manages Piastri, so he can help advise him on managing his home race.
When he made his debut in 2023, Bahrain was the opening race. He’s relieved that he didn’t have to go straight into a home Grand Prix.
Piastri has implicitly warned Doohan ahead of this weekend’s event, telling him it could be ‘overwhelming and intense’. But the Alpine driver should already have a chip on his shoulder after a winter of speculation, and this could offer added motivation.
